Peninsula Campaign - Why the American Civil War Wasn't Won Quickly

I swear, the more I learn about McClellan and his campaign's, the more I want to fire him myself. No surprise that Lincoln hated him. That cocky little POS could've found a way to lose a battle where he had 100,000 soldiers and his enemy only had 1,000! Truly one of the most incompetent generals in military history!

A change of firearms earlier would have fastened the end of the Civil War.
Both the Prussian bolt-action needle gun, and the lever action Winchester gun which was adopted eventually during the last months of the war were available at the beginning of the conflict. Both guns were more effective than the muzzle loading guns the used during the Civil War. However, the Union was late to adopt such guns because they were deemed "expensive" while the Confederates had no money what so ever to buy such guns.

The military side of the conflict is interesting and all, but I’m shocked by how ineffective the confederate govt was. It makes you wonder how the heck the confederacy was able to last that long under such incompetent and disorganized govt leaders. Can we possibly get a video focusing on the more political side of the war? That would be very interesting and appreciated.

Just to be clear, McLellan had real talent, just not in generalship. If he'd been a staff officer, perhaps responsible for preparing the army only the war would've ended in 1862/3

Episode 1 the Phantom Everything

McClellan was not an effective combat commander. In peacetime, he would be exactly the sort of general an army needs, but he lacked the necessary aggressiveness to fight with his army, and the few campaigns he led his army into were either utter disasters or stalemates. Despite holding numerical superiority, he refused to commit the forces necessary to capitalize on his advantages, and regularly sabotaged himself through his paranoia and indecisiveness. And he would start the trend of incompetency that the Union General Staff of the Army of the Potomac were infamously known for until Meade bested Lee at Gettysburg. But before that we must first see off McDowell, McClellan, Burnside, and Hooker, and watch the mythical legends of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson take on lives of their own, with special mention to Pope coming soon.

Unrelated. But wtf does mechanic in Mechanicsville stand for in the 1860s

Excuse you the Naval Blockade Was EFFECTIVE! 😤 By 1864 to early 1865 the runners dropped to just a third of its initial rate, and in some places it was just 10% of the original rate. Anybody telling you that it wasn't effective is a British doughface! 🙄

The map is wrong. WV wasn’t in the union nor did it exist in 1861

McClellan should've been a Quartermaster or Stayed as one. Because that's where he shinned. Because as a Battlefield Commander he was sadly inept. Great video.

Too old and fat 😂😂😂 general Scott rolling over In his grave

Lee Enfield? Sick

This video does prove one thing.
The question, "If you can take anything from the present and bring it to the past to change a battle what would that be?"
The best answer? Radios.

A great video, thanks!

Great stuff, as ever

The only thing worse than not knowing what the enemy is doing is not knowing what your own men are doing.

McClellan was useless as anything other than a logistical officer. he spent all this time building thisbig pretty army that he was afraid to use

Lee-Enfield Rifled Musket...?🤭🤦‍♂ either Springfield Model 1861 or imported Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle-musket

Well Done

I like the way you talked about “acoustic shadows.” That’s yet another important element of these battles that I hadn’t considered.

The pronunciation and captions didn't make this clear, but it's Joseph E. Johnston, with a "t", not Johnson.

My middle name is Johnston, believe it or not, and so I could not remain silent about this. I will forgive you, this time.

Most of Total War players would probably act like McClellan.

I can't get over showing West Virginia before it was a state.

Very interesting video. Looking forward to the next one. Also some interesting comments especially the one about things that didn't make it into the script.

Aww McClellan. A man who cared about his troops so much that a small scratch sends him into a panic.

Jackson was almost as inept

Don't know what was worse, McClellan or Jackson fking up most of his orders 😅

Can someone please explain why it’s rebels? Why not confederacy/ CSA or just the south!!

Ahahah Is this a comedy? WW2 must have really done a miracle on American war thinking.

Bad Generalship. Point Blank

so much incompetence on both size sides really makes this battle so frustrating

He should’ve been a core commander or the army builder of the union just not the army commander

The more you learn about the incompetency and infighting of the Confederate government, the more inept you realise the Union was that it took them so long to defeat such a disorganised enemy.

Thank you for explaining the Peninsula Campaign from the big picture! It was a clear and educational message!

United Kingdom started the World diversification of the raw cotton production in 1858 THREE YEARS BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR!. The brand new crown colony India got the main role in it. One of the first measures was that London began to increase the raw cotton production in India. The British port city consulates began to give free of charge cotton seeds for the agricultural producers in the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire and Egypt. The World diversification was made by the British (+French) for 1864!
The Wool and Flax industries were behind the cotton industry in the industrial revolution so these industies got possibility to bring in their disadvantages.

Please make Full episode guried Empire and ottoman Empire and Mughals empire pls i wait for every video like share and comment at

During this period, England and France bought cotton in Latin America, with emphasis on Brazil, which was also involved in another war, the Paraguayan War or the War of the Triple Alliance.The Brazilian Northeast Gained Prominence During This Period Before The Droughts.

The Pinckertons even appear in Red Deamption ll.

While it's true that McClellan was outgeneraled on several occasions, it was not just "one general" as the narrator indicates. Almost all Union generals at the outset of the war were inferior to their southern counterparts. This leadership gap lasted for most of the war, and finally the Union realized the best way to defeat the Confederacy was through logistics. The north used its industry to churn out massive amounts of war materials, which is something the South could not do. This is especially true once the blockade had been established. The Union lost battle after battle when it tried to outfight the Confederate forces, but it finally won by wearing the South down and making it use up its scarce supplies and war materials.

The union army is a pack of leons led by a fearful sheep.

Love the videos! But the early on confederate general was Joseph E. Johnston, not Johnson.

I am sympathetic to command structure problems, since it was a civil war and most participants were volunteers flying by the seems of their pants. But there must've been some elements of the US Army that were professionals, right?

The Napoleonic Era was less than 100 years in the past and I don't recall them having this comedy of errors happening, where entire army corps go missing in action because they took a wrong turn at the local mill or the commander dozed off. Didn't the US have observers during the Crimean War? They're not supposed to reinvent the wheel.

An amazing video.

"Why the American Civil War wasnt won quickly" McClellen. The Answer is McClellen

Malvern Hill, "It was not war, it was murder."

Timidity by the Union played a decisive part in the length of the war. Recently read Grant’s memoirs and a part that stood out to me was him looking back on a small engagement at beginning of the war. In his first engagement, he notes how he was scared to some degree to engage the enemy (since he had never really directly commanded troops in combat). However, once the battle commenced he realized that his enemy had the same feeling towards engaging his own force. After that is when he set his mind to never be afraid of engaging the enemy. This is a large part of what made him such an effective leader, realizing that the enemy was always more afraid of him than he was of them as long as he kept the initiative. Would have served the union well in these early battles. By risking more lives in the short term, it’s possible Union leadership could have saved more men’s lives in the long run.

McLellan was not a great general, lee beat him and Burnside and McLellan again it wasn't till grant beat lee also blockade runners did make it to South States and napoleon 3 in Mexico was supportive of the c.s.a the only reason Britain and France didn't support the confederate was Gettysburg win. The south was better they had great rifle man and wore used to using guns they hunted game for food while the north had no experience with any firearms. Lee would win battles against Potomac army with 10 000 men and the union having 50 000.